Get on the trail
Having a nosey at people’s art and gardens is allowed this weekend as the Manawatu¯ Art and Garden Trail throws open doors. Carly Thomas had the first snoop.
Aside effect of the Manawatu¯ Art and Garden Trail is that it’s not just the 35 gardens on the trail that get a thorough going-over – the ones over the fence often get a spruce up too.
Doreen Higginson giggles and points out her neighbour’s small formal courtyard. ‘‘They have done quite a bit of work out there. I’m going to put a sign up on our fence pointing it out’’.
Doreen and her husband Derek Higginson have been working steadily towards this weekend, giving their little, but overflowing Feilding garden the right royal treatment. They gave it the ‘‘Chelsea prune’’ about a month ago.
‘‘That’s what they do for the Chelsea Flower Show,’’ Doreen says, ‘‘so you do a much earlier chop of things to make sure they are flowering when you want them to’’.
This weekend is when the Higginsons and all the other gardeners on the trail want their blooms to be wonderful. There is a gardener’s pride at stake, after all.
‘‘Well you want it to be at its best now don’t you? We love this garden.’’
The Higginsons are ready for a good march of people coming up their hill after spending time looking at all there is to offer in Feilding.
There are art studios in people’s backyards, like Allen and Gael Gamble’s purpose-built showroom and workspace. It houses their vast collection of combined art – watercolour paintings, pastels and alloy model soldiers.
Esther Nitschke’s property offers both a garden with enviable views over Feilding and her weaving workshop, showcasing her 54 years of experience. And Raemon Rolfe gives a glimpse of her recent works in her specialised genre of encaustic art.
In Palmerston North, there are four artists studios and four gardens to have a nosey at with work ranging from paintings in watercolour, oils and acrylic to painted porcelain and the whimsical works of Ro Clarke.
Pohangina Valley offers up mixed media from Jude Mitchell, roses in full flamboyant showiness, Shona Darby’s bog garden, and from Jill Walcroft? Cheese of the artisan variety, alongside her art and little garden.
The things people create in their own backyard, whether it is art made in a humble shed or a garden with the colour turned up, is what the trail is about. The pleasure of making beauty realised and putting out the welcome mat to share it all.
The Feilding and Districts Art Centre will be a good starting point for trail goers. The trail is the big fundraiser for the 15-year-old art society and its centre in town will be bustling over the weekend. Julie Oliver, Judy Johnstone, Eddie Hall, Irene Whittaker and
Rosie Barclay all have work up and will be standing by for arty chats. Oliver is an experienced artist who won’t tell you all the secrets to how she creates her signature rural scenes on antique cross-saw blades, but she will tell you enough to leave you intrigued.
‘‘I have always had an innate love of yesteryear and one of my favourite subjects is horses, so that’s where I started. Before long, people wanted their stories and their memories in full colour on them and it sort of went a little bit crazy.’’
Judy Johnstone is another artist with many years of art practise behind her. She loves landscapes and what she depicts with her brushes and watercolour paints are things that make her stop and look, things that she finds beautiful. ‘‘I paint what I like. I paint what inspires me’’.
Johnstone is a founding member of the arts society and can also tell a good story about the early days when the group was really just an idea.
Eddie Hall will probably join in on some of those stories. He has been involved for quite some time too. He is a wood turner who can magically turn a slab of wood into something beautiful, useable and unique. He says he ‘‘started off life as a carpenter’’ and has been turning wood for, give or take, 30 years. Hall is a natural teacher and has a workshop at home where many students have come through the door. ‘‘We have the rehab boys who have had brain injuries and things like that and they come in for a one-on-one lesson and that fills up my week.’’
Irene Whittaker, too, will have her art on display and her organiser’s hat on. Give her a nod, a pat on the back and maybe even a cup of tea, she has championed the Manawatu¯ Art and Garden Trail since it began in 2016 and knows all about the people who are in the trail guide.
Many other stories on the why and the how of people’s art and gardens will mingle together during the trail. As will cuttings of plants swapping hands, ideas bantered back and forth and inspiration and gusto given in bucketfuls. And don’t forget to have a nosey over Doreen Higginson’s fence, the little courtyard is a triumph of neighbourly pride.